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USA captain Kate Zackary: 'To get where we have gotten to is huge'

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - OCTOBER 11: Enya Breen of Ireland and Kate Zackary of the United States pose for a photo with Referee Maggie Cogger following the coin toss prior to the WXV 1 2024 match between USA and Ireland at BC Place on October 11, 2024 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photo by Rich Lam - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

Kate Zackary is proud of what her USA team achieved at WXV 1 despite not picking up a win at the tournament.

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The Trailfinders Women forward won her 40th cap in Vancouver as the Eagles succumbed to defeat at the hands of England, France and Ireland.

Coming into the competition after a third-place finish in the Pacific Four Series in May, Sione Fukofuka’s squad left Vancouver without a point in October.

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Soundly beaten 61-21 by England after a bright start at BC Place, Zackary and her teammates then lost 22-14 to France and 26-14 against Ireland.

“Immediately after the tournament off the back of the Ireland game, I actually felt really proud,” Zackary said.

“I didn’t even think about the fact that we went 0-3 and walked away with zero points. I just thought we played some really good rugby.

“We went in wanting to execute a few things and really let our set-piece shine against some really strong sides.

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“Against France, it was being comfortable in a kicking battle, and I think we did that. In each game we had a marker and met it.

“A few weeks later, I can’t help but think ‘I wish we won a game’. That would have been nice.

“But it is funny, I am back in England now and people are saying it is one of the best tournaments they have seen us play.

“We shut people down. We played England to a 10-point difference until the last 10 minutes. In the first 10 minutes against France, we could have scored three tries.

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“Ireland are on a massive come up, they beat New Zealand on the opening weekend and we were leading them. If it weren’t for mistakes we would have beaten them.”

For Zackary and her teammates there is already a sense of anticipation for when the Eagles get back together.

Less than a year into Fukofuka’s tenure as head coach, the side has blooded new talent and is evaluating his team’s progress by performances over their results.

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Now nine matches into the Australian’s tenure, the Eagles have three wins, a draw and five losses to their name.

With players plying their trade in Premiership Women’s Rugby, contracted to USA Sevens or about to embark on a debut campaign as paid players competing in Women’s Elite Rugby (WER), there is a feeling that the time to progress is now.

“We’re really just starting to find the momentum,” Zackary said. “Last year we had some really good interim coaches and Sione took over last December. To get where we have gotten to is huge.

“We have played some really good games. He has done his job to make sure that he has loads of touchpoints across the US – going to see lots of teams, players and to recruit as well.

“What is exciting is over the next few months we will have players in England playing good rugby and we have the girls back in the US preparing for the WER season.

“Our sevens players are in a daily training environment.

“What we are trying to create is; if you are not in a daily training environment, you have a regular training schedule and markers you need to hit.

“It is really crazy to think that we are still finding momentum. Nothing is set in stone yet.”

Date set in Sunderland

Zackary is hoping to harness local support ahead of the USA’s 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup opener against England.

Drawn against the host nation for the tournament, the Eagles will kick-start the 16 team tournament at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light with the eyes of the world watching them.

But even thousands of miles from home, there will be some familiarity for the 35-year-old and her teammates.

One of a number of Eagles plying their trade in PWR, Zackary is part of the coaching panel for Brunel University’s women’s side, while other teammates have also embedded themselves in with their communities.

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“We have had 20 players in PWR for the last three years and I think they have started to connect with the community,” she said.

“We are in another country and there will be fans there for some of us which is pretty cool.”

More than ever before there is a sense of anticipation for what the Eagles could achieve.

Over the summer the world was enchanted as the nation won bronze at the Olympic Games in Paris, with Ilona Maher emerging as rugby’s most followed athlete on social media.

Now reportedly debating a move to PWR, should Maher be part of the Eagles’ Rugby World Cup plans seven years on from her last XVs cap is yet to be seen, but the noise around the team will only continue to build.

With the World Cup opener circled and underlined in the calendar next year, Zackary hopes to keep using the momentum gathering around the side.

“England are one of the top sides,” Zackary said. “They are at home for the tournament and there is a lot of buzz about this game.

“It’s the first game. No matter who it was going to be, it was going to be talked about for a year.

“I think it will be great. There will be a big buzz around the stadium, which even for our team will be great.

“In the US we are still building our brand, we are coming off the tail of the sevens having a really good Olympic campaign and we are looking forward to having a great World Cup.”

Happy trails

Between now and linking back up with the USA squad Zackary’s attention will solely be on Trailfinders.

Five rounds into the new PWR season, the London club are sixth in the league table and face two-time champions Gloucester-Hartpury next time out.

Ending their first season in the competition on a high, the club have lofty expectations this year.

Most recently registering a 36-17 win over Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, the side are surpassing expectations after the sudden summer departure of Giselle Mather as Women’s Director of Rugby at Trailfinders Sports Ground.

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While plenty expected the much-heralded coach’s exit to unsettle the squad she built, Mather set the foundations for Barney Maddison’s installation as head coach of the side.

“Change can always be difficult,” Zackary said. “That being said, Giselle set up a great programme.

“She recruited good people. Not only good rugby players and built a really good culture, from the staff through to the players.

“Even with her leaving and Barney Maddison slotting in as head coach, even though we had that change.

“We still had good people and a good rugby culture. While you had that moment of wondering if it was a big change, on the other hand we have got all the tools and resources to be a good side.

“We finished on a high last year against Harlequins, and everyone wants to come in this season and be a top-four side. We know we are capable of that.”

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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